settima

crime

Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)

Feb

14

St. Valentine's Day

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Sugar, Josephine, Daphne, and Sweet Sue and Her Society Syncopators rehearse Runnin’ Wild on the sleeper train to sunny Florida. DP: Charles Lang.

A movie about romance, of the Mafia, for St. Valentine's Day.

 

Musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) witness a killing by the Mob at the St. Valentine's Dance where they were hired to perform. In an attempt to escape the Chicagoan gangsters, they go overcover as Josephine and Daphne (“Well, I never did like the name Geraldine.”) in an all-gall jazz band, and fall head over heels for ukelele player Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

“Real diamonds! They must be worth their weight in gold!”

– Sugar Kane Kowalczyk

The opening shootout was directly inspired by the February 14 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre (graphic), and shares an actor from one of its most famous adaptations, Scarface (1932); George Raft as the wonderfully named Spats Colombo.

Todo modo [One Way or Another] (Elio Petri, 1976)

Feb

13

Eucharist

Todo modo (1976)

Captains of industry, politicians and others of the upper echelons share a meal of bread, water, and wine at a long table. DP: Luigi Kuveiller.

“When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.”

– 1 Corinthians 11:20–21, via

暗黒街の美女 [Ankokugai no bijo / Underworld Beauty] (Seijun Suzuki, 1958)

Feb

3

oden

暗黒街の美女 (1958)

At a yatai specialised in oden, someone chops an ingredient (daikon?) in two with what looks like a nakiri. DP: Wataro Nakao.

Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)

Jan

19

lights

Blue Velvet (1986)

Ben (Dean Stockwell) miming Roy Orbison's In Dreams with a work light for a microphone. DP: Frederick Elmes.

Lights on the date in 1883 that #ThomasEdison first switched on overhead electric lighting.

“A candy-colored clown they call the sandman Tiptoes to my room every night Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper 'Go to sleep, everything is alright'”

– Roy Orbison, In Dreams (1963)

David Lynch at his finest Anger, and Stockwell at his peak. The work light was improvised when Lynch noticed Stockwell handling it between shoots.

荒野のダッチワイフ [Kōya no dacchi waifu / Dutch Wife of the Wasteland] (Atsushi Yamatoya, 1967)

Dec

13

ice cream

荒野のダッチワイフ (1967)

A young woman in profile, almost a silhouette, eats ice cream. DP: Hajime Kai.

Les abysses [The Depths] (Nikos Papatakis, 1963)

Dec

2

sister's birthday

Les abysses (1963)

Michèle and Marie-Louise (real-life sisters Francine and Colette Bergé) as the real-life Papin sisters in their shared bedroom. DP: Jean-Michel Boussaguet.

Sisters for [OP's] sister's birthday.

Murder by Contract (Irving Lerner, 1958)

Nov

29

candy

Murder by Contract (1958)

In a small movie theatre, a guy in a suit (Phillip Pine) stuffs his face with something from a small brown paper bag. Behind him are the Hollywood idea of an “elderly” woman (Janet Brandt) and a man with a moustache (Albert Cavens), Right next to snack man, a fellow with his hat pulled deeply over his face (Herschel Bernardi) takes a nap.. DP: Lucien Ballard.

“The way i see it, Harry, everybody lives off everybody else.”

– Claude

Mélodie en sous-sol [Any Number Can Win] (Henri Verneuil, 1963)

Nov

22

banquet

Mélodie en sous-sol (1963)

Backstage at the Cannes casino, stars and stagehands enjoy their well-deserved end-of-season banquet. Just walking in front of the showgirls is piano player Sam (Jimmy Davis). DP: Louis Page.

Compartiment tueurs [The Sleeping Car Murder] (Costa-Gavras, 1965)

Nov

8

Compartiment tueurs (1965)

Eliane Darrès (Simone Signoret) – comédienne, by herself – takes a long hard look at her table-set-for-two. DP: Jean Tournier.

El esqueleto de la señora Morales [Skeleton of Mrs. Morales] (Rogelio A. González, 1960)

Sep

6

El esqueleto de la señora Morales (1960)

Señora Morales (Amparo Rivelles) looks on in horror while señor Morales (Arturo de Córdova) enjoys his meal. DP: Víctor Herrera.